IC Forum Archive

WarpZone · Posts: 396

Mr. Mechanical wrote:

I wish there were more RPG games that took the formula and drafted interesting, charming, original stories and ideas onto them. I never realized how tired I was of the typical fantasy schlock in games until I played this one for a few hours straight. What a difference a change in setting can do.

Yeah, Earthbound feels so different from DQ, yet it's such a small change. Imagine this applied to more games in general, not just RPG's...

Cycle · Posts: 1574

I've noticed that too, I mean I love Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior, despite being pretty much identical games. Just the different settings make them feel like totally different experiences!

Giant Enemy Crab · Posts: 111

Yesterday was a very rhythm game heavy day. I started off by going to a Best Buy, and finding that Guitar Hero was set up for display. So I played a few rounds of that, even taking requests from the passers-by. My wrists started to hurt after playing Cowboys from Hell, so I had to give that up.

Next up was an arcade that I was curious about, so I scoped it out and found that it had one of those new-fangled DDR SuperNOVA machines. I was mildly unimpressed with it. The interface was annoying to use, a number of features were cut out, and the majority of new songs were trash. There was a regular old Extreme machine nearby, so I played a round for comparison and found it to be a much better experience overall.

Finally, as I mentioned in the Look What I Just Got, Thread, I picked up beatmania for PS2 from Target for $40. I played through a good deal of the early songs, and it left me with a burning desire to find a decent IIDX arcade machine nearby.

mechanori · Posts: 623

I hate Jak 3 and Gun. They remind me why I don't pick stuff off the shelf. Terrible direction for video games.

Moogs · Posts: 928

I'm a little shocked at how easy King Kong is. I picked up the Xbox version for $15 at Toys R Us (huge clearance sale going on!) two days ago, and I think I'm pretty much nearing the end... after about five hours of playing. The length doesn't bother me, it's the fact that I'm not really feeling like I'm playing anything.

This may as well be the King Kong ride at Universal Studios in Florida.

Also, I picked up Taiko Drum Master for $20 (again, Toys R Us!). Great game. Not too sure about how responsive the drum is. Or maybe I'm just not hitting it hard enough. Hitting the edge has proven to be a little frustrating, though.

Needs more classical songs.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

tony hawk 3 is totally the best in the series. the stages are all really, really good. you can grind forever in rio.

best music too.

GcDiaz · Posts: 1057

More CoD2. Beat the final mission, watched the kick-ass credit sequence (gets my vote for one of the best ever).

The final mission felt...insufficient. Yeah it was long, action packed, somewhat varied (in the beginning at least), but there wasn't nearly as much spectacle and fanfare as you would expect, given every mission before it. The second mission of the entire game had more impact IMO.

Monthenor · Posts: 455

Giant Enemy Crab wrote:

Yesterday was a very rhythm game heavy day. I started off by going to a Best Buy, and finding that Guitar Hero was set up for display. So I played a few rounds of that, even taking requests from the passers-by. My wrists started to hurt after playing Cowboys from Hell, so I had to give that up.

My local Best Buy also has it set up, with stupid speaker-in-chair things plugged in, and no memory card. I guess they turn it off every night to save power or something, because only the easiest songs are ever unlocked.

I make it a point to enter the Unlock All code every time I go there. Texas Flood will sell more units than Infected.

Rud13 · Posts: 3277

Moogs wrote:

I'm a little shocked at how easy King Kong is. I picked up the Xbox version for $15 at Toys R Us (huge clearance sale going on!) two days ago, and I think I'm pretty much nearing the end... after about five hours of playing. The length doesn't bother me, it's the fact that I'm not really feeling like I'm playing anything.

Yeah. The beginning is pretty good though!

dess wrote:

tony hawk 3 is totally the best in the series. the stages are all really, really good. you can grind forever in rio.

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Tony Hawk 3 is where the game "make combos last forever" shit got really out of hand.

Cycle · Posts: 1574

Yeah, I actually DON'T like that you can grind forever! The second game is my favourite.

the drunken samurai · Posts: 4645

2 is where the series peaked really,it also the game that made me lose interest in the whole thing

brainiac · Posts: 941

Moogs wrote:

Also, I picked up Taiko Drum Master for $20 (again, Toys R Us!). Great game. Not too sure about how responsive the drum is. Or maybe I'm just not hitting it hard enough. Hitting the edge has proven to be a little frustrating, though.

yeah... you don't need to beat the shit out of the drum, but you do need to hit it like you mean it. slap slap slap not tap tap tap, do you get what i'm sayin' okay.

Koji · Posts: 571

So I've been playing a heck of a lot of Metal Slug Advance these days, and I just love it. I didn't think it was this awesome before, because it wasn't what I was looking for at the moment, but now... I figured it out. This game's quite like Astro Boy! It's an action game, but it requires constant replays of individual stages to find hidden stuff and different paths and secret things. Stages mutate as you find new items, allowing you to find more things. It becomes addictive trying to find everything the game has, a collect-a-thon done well. And for those who bitched about the game becoming too easy with a life bar (even though if you only took three hits it'd be impossible to get every card,) there's a card that really tests your abilities, eliminating the life bar and making you die in a single hit.

So far I've found 86 cards and 94 prisoners, with missions 1 through 4 fully completed, and it took me a fair share of hours. Too bad it won't be long before I get them all, now.

Deets · Posts: 605

Moogs wrote:

Also, I picked up Taiko Drum Master for $20 (again, Toys R Us!). Great game.

I strongly disagree, but I'm an elitist rhythm game asshole so whatever. I hated the controller, mostly. The fact that I didn't see much thrills in adding generic taiko sounds to the selection of random licensed music and Namco tunes didn't help either.

luvcraft · Posts: 693

Wow, I'd simultaneously forgotten how awesome and how frustrating Castlevania: HOD is until I played it again this weekend. So very beautiful, and so full of clever touches, but so very very brutal and brain-crushing-ly backtracky.

Yay+ugh=yugh?

taidan · Posts: 493

luvcraft wrote:

Wow, I'd simultaneously forgotten how awesome and how frustrating Castlevania: HOD is until I played it again this weekend. So very beautiful, and so full of clever touches, but so very very brutal and brain-crushing-ly backtracky.

Yay+ugh=yugh?

I still haven't finished this game. I think you just explained why.

luvcraft · Posts: 693

Koji wrote:

So far I've found 86 cards and 94 prisoners, with missions 1 through 4 fully completed, and it took me a fair share of hours. Too bad it won't be long before I get them all, now.

I was never ever able to get the cards for the special tanks that you need to get into the secret areas. Well, rather, I could GET them, I just couldn't ever keep them until the end of the level. My run'n'gun-fu is just not up to the challenge, I guess.

luvcraft · Posts: 693

taidan wrote:

I still haven't finished this game. I think you just explained why.

I'm going to finish it again despite the frustration, because I know exactly what wonderfulness awaits me at the end:

Boss rush as Simon Belmont!!!

Which is very very fun and silly. :)X

luvcraft · Posts: 693

dessgeega wrote:

tony hawk 3 is totally the best in the series. the stages are all really, really good. you can grind forever in rio.

I loved 2 and completed EVERYTHING, but I could never get into 3. It was just sort of lacking, somehow. I'm not really sure why.

antitype · Posts: 1148

I never finished Code: Veronica back in 2000, for various reasons — most of all because I lost interest in videogames for a time, and didn't start playing them again until I bought a PS2 and Gamecube in early '03. This explains why I've been enjoying so many Dreamcast games lately, I suppose. I'll still be enjoying it years from now, too. For a console that was so short-lived, it sure has a lot to offer, doesn't it?

Anyway, I really liked Code: Veronica at the time. It had nothing to do with my hiatus from videogames — I was just distracted by other things. And even after playing RE4, I'm really liking it now, even though it is a bit awkward returning to the old control style and all the absurd puzzles. And Steve, who is perhaps the most annoying character in any videogame. Some of the environments and the B-movie horror have a timeless charm, though, and it's enough to push me through even the most tedious of key-hunting treks from room to room to room and back again, which remains sort of remarkable.

The game seems to get a bit harder at the start of the second disc, after the crash. I'd almost forgotten about this part, too, thinking the bit where you take control of Chris Redfield was coming up much sooner. When I last played this game six years ago, I know that I played as Chris for a while, but I have no idea where it was that I left off.

It occurs to me that I'm playing this game mostly because I never finished it, and always meant to. I mean, it's very good, but I probably would've appreciated it more if I'd just finished it back then. Capcom have made such enormous leaps forward and sideways since then, haven't they?

B coma · Posts: 1455

Deets wrote:

Moogs wrote:

Also, I picked up Taiko Drum Master for $20 (again, Toys R Us!). Great game.

I strongly disagree, but I'm an elitist rhythm game asshole so whatever. I hated the controller, mostly. The fact that I didn't see much thrills in adding generic taiko sounds to the selection of random licensed music and Namco tunes didn't help either.

while that's not a bad price for it, these points pretty valid. almost none of the songs on there really fit the theme, even if they are enjoyable on their own.

They really just should have went with traditional taiko stuff, or made original music. The amount of pop songs in there... who wants to play a Taiko drum to Tumpthumping and Lady Marmalade?

Moogs · Posts: 928

Well, the Japanese version of Taiko Drum Master had pop stuff, too, didn't it? Who the hell wants to play a taiko drum to Orange Range or however many anime theme songs that are on there?

I suppose a track list of traditional taiko-based music would have been fine, but I don't think Namco was aiming for the game to be that esoteric.

You can always just stick to the classical stuff that's on there. Like I do.

taidan · Posts: 493

luvcraft wrote:

dessgeega wrote:

tony hawk 3 is totally the best in the series. the stages are all really, really good. you can grind forever in rio.

I loved 2 and completed EVERYTHING, but I could never get into 3. It was just sort of lacking, somehow. I'm not really sure why.

Agreed. I think 2 is the pinnacle of the series, with 4 a close second. 3 was my least favorite for many reasons. For one, it didn't feel like quite the huge leap forward that 2 was. 2 introduced so many new features and a huge amount of customability, with much larger levels. Only a few of 3's stages felt like a huge increase in size compared to 2. There weren't that many new tricks either, and some of the stages just weren't that fun. I still love Canada to this day, but stuff like the factory and the suburbs felt uninspired. I think my least favorite part of 3 was how they tried to implement some more unique goals, like "grab the ax so the guy can chop down a door" i,n an attempt to offer more interaction with the npc's and the environment. It tried to do much more than "skate and rack up the high score" but didn't really nail it.

For me, 2 is the best for pure skating and technique, while 4 feels like what 3 wanted to do, but fleshed out. It removes the time limit, and offers more tweeks and flatland tricks. When 3 added the revert, the point values in THPS became ridiculous, and 4 just accepts this and gives you more ways to rack up some crazy numbers.

And while this is completely my own tastes, I feel that 3 was closer stylistically to the first game (music, fonts, interface and sound effects, etc.), which I don't like, whereas 2 and 4 feel very similar to each other in this way.

Deets · Posts: 605

luvcraft · Posts: 693

taidan wrote:

And while this is completely my own tastes, I feel that 3 was closer stylistically to the first game (music, fonts, interface and sound effects, etc.), which I don't like, whereas 2 and 4 feel very similar to each other in this way.

hmm, maybe I should check out 4, then. What did you think of "Underground"?

taidan · Posts: 493

luvcraft wrote:

taidan wrote:

And while this is completely my own tastes, I feel that 3 was closer stylistically to the first game (music, fonts, interface and sound effects, etc.), which I don't like, whereas 2 and 4 feel very similar to each other in this way.

hmm, maybe I should check out 4, then. What did you think of "Underground"?

Skipped both Undergrounds. At that point I felt there wasn't much the series could offer, and depending on who you ask they'll either strongly agree or disagree. I have American Wasteland, and its just too much. There are just so many more things you can do, but only a few of them are worth it. I stick to the basic maneuvers from 2-4 and try to enjoy the levels themselves rather than the story mode.

As a more specific response to luvcraft: What I mean by "style" is that 1 and 3 have that crazy, uneven font for the trick names, some silly menu music, and a very... "punk skater rebellion" feel to them. I think 2 has a real classy feel to it, with a focus on some real skating venues and lots of old school references (like Animal Chin). I think 4 is much the same. Maybe not with the stages as much, but each skater gets a specific endgame challenge, much of them based on a real life feat that the person may have accomplished. It also tries to add as many tricks and ridiculous things into the engine as possible without really cluttering up the controls (like Wasteland does, and I'm guessing the Undergrounds do). Some think its rather difficult too. 4 just feels like the Pro Skater game meant for Pro Skater fans.

Hope that clarifies things. I'm always afraid to get all glowing about a game, and then someone trys it out based on my words, only to find out they don't dig it.

Edit: I also realize that some of my complaints with 3 are very picky and perhaps trite things. I expect a lot of people to disagree.

Moogs · Posts: 928

Deets wrote:

What's the draw of Taiko?

You get to beat a drum?

I dunno. It's better than Ouendan.

Deets · Posts: 605

At least ouendan registers my input without excessive force.

Slonie · Posts: 422

Beat $10 Mercenaries and picked up $12 Psi-Ops to keep the crazy train of budget-priced older games rolling. I had heard that Psi-Ops was quite good "despite" being from Midway, and it only took one play on my old roommate's PirateXbox to convince me it was worth picking up.

It's the only game ever where the presence of a crate in any given situation is a good thing. I mean, you can throw crates with your telekinesis powers. You can throw crates into guys, guys into crates, guys into explodybarrels or non-OSHA-approved factory machinery. It's really good fun.

Also after the Minibosses concert on Saturday, my group got some pretty good 6-player Mario Kart DS going on. Also the night before it was 8-player Tetris DS. I really need to brush up my Tetris skills as not to get served so hard next time. The DS really brings home the promise of portable multiplayer with all the single-cart wireless ad-hoc goodness.

Koji · Posts: 571

luvcraft wrote:

I was never ever able to get the cards for the special tanks that you need to get into the secret areas. Well, rather, I could GET them, I just couldn't ever keep them until the end of the level. My run'n'gun-fu is just not up to the challenge, I guess.

I don't think you need them for anything; rather, there are cards that change the stages. There is one card that lets you jump higher in a slug, which is needed to reach a certain place, but that's it.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

okay tony hawk 2 might be better than 3 i just havn't played it in a really long time and can't remember it. i just like the way the stages are constructed in 3.

Harveyjames · Posts: 196

Captain Blood.

I don't know why but this game is right up my street.

taidan · Posts: 493

dessgeega wrote:

okay tony hawk 2 might be better than 3 i just havn't played it in a really long time and can't remember it. i just like the way the stages are constructed in 3.

3 definitely has some sweet levels for grinding. If you enjoy that the most I agree that 3 is the money. Most of the levels (cruise ship, Rio, the airport basement and Tokyo) have long grinds that span large stretches and can be pretty challenging.

And in the end, I can't ever "hate" 3, because its Create a Skater was robust enough for me to recreate Bob Burnquist. All was good after that.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

grinding is pretty much all i can do in tony hawk, so yeah.

Crazy Bacon Lips · Posts: 783

FINE. I'm WRONG. In the meantime, I drew a picture of a pony that looks like a cow, and I found that doing that was A LOT MORE ENJOYABLE THAN NSMB.

Here is a link to the aforementioned picture:
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3983/yeahyeahyeahpg9.gif

Giant Enemy Crab · Posts: 111

Deets wrote:

In pretty much every other rhythm game you're actively creating the music in some fashion, and at least DDR gets you some exercise. What's the draw of Taiko?

You try playing Ridge Racer on Hard or Oni and then tell me you don't feel buff enough to punch through a Hummer afterwards.

But really, you are creating the Taiko noises, but they're usually washed out by the music or the actual sound of the sticks hitting the drum. Try listening to a song on Auto-play. It sounds at least somewhat impressive that way.

Jeff Garneau · Posts: 1622

agreed that thps2 is the pinnacle. it's really awe-inspiring how many random, unexpected people are really serious about that game.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Giant Enemy Crab wrote:

Riiiiidge Racer

ReroRero · Posts: 2148

People are still doing that?

brainiac · Posts: 941

dessgeega wrote:

grinding is pretty much all i can do in tony hawk, so yeah.

all you need to do, to pull of some sweet tricks in tony hawk, is go up a ramp or swimming pool really fast, then press a bunch of buttons like crazy while yr in the air and straighten out before you land.

taidan · Posts: 493

brainiac wrote:

dessgeega wrote:

grinding is pretty much all i can do in tony hawk, so yeah.

all you need to do, to pull of some sweet tricks in tony hawk, is go up a ramp or swimming pool really fast, then press a bunch of buttons like crazy and straighten out before you land.

And if you can do a little bit more than that, revert off the trick and start pulling flatland tricks in place as quickly as you can (in 4 or higher). Easiest way to get your multiplier high without doing something insanely difficult.

Cycle · Posts: 1574

guys, in this post I make a post about grinding.

I did plenty of grinding in my bedroom last night, if you catch my drift!

taidan · Posts: 493

Cycle wrote:

guys, in this post I make a post about grinding.

I did plenty of grinding in my bedroom last night, if you catch my drift!

Did you finish it off with an Indy Nosebone?

ReroRero · Posts: 2148

Or a dribble dribble half-dick (with a half-dick twist)?.

Deets · Posts: 605

Giant Enemy Crab wrote:

You try playing Ridge Racer on Hard or Oni and then tell me you don't feel buff enough to punch through a Hummer afterwards.

I didn't, and the controller registered far fewer notes than I would have liked. Etc.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

panzer bandit is like guardian heroes minus the boring.

Scratchmonkey · Posts: 2229

The last few days have been lost in a haze of Football Manager and Escape Velocity: Nova.

FM, I've mentioned. Escape Velocity was a shareware game released way back in the day by Mac-shareware group Ambrosia Software. The basic idea was to take something like Tradewars, mash it onto Asteroids-esque 2D gameplay (only far more complex) and set it in a large galaxy with loads of political intrigue, with the player free to be a trader, pirate, explorer or affiliated with any number of competing factions.

Then they made a sequel, Escape Velocity: Override, which was along the same lines and pretty good in its own way. Then they made EV: Nova, which was the first entry to be ported over to Windows machines. It's bigger, more alien races, more missions, etc. etc.

Like most open-ended games, it has absolutely no qualms with completely and utterly fucking the player over for no other reason that plain bad luck (this is what I'm kind of upset that Oblivion lacks). For instance, you might start the game in the same system as some pirates, who will almost certainly blow you up. Revisit this scenario with pirates replaced by hostile alien races and you have a situation where if you don't know anything about the system you're jumping into, you've got a serious chance of getting fragged.

You need to plan ahead as well, since if you run out of fuel, you could be stranded in deep space, dependent on contacting passing ships to help you and if there aren't any passing ships, well, too bad. Thankfully it defaults to a safe mode, which makes things easier, even if there are ways to completely fuck yourself over if you're creative/exceptionally stupid.

Because of the latter behavior, my best character is stuck deep in alien space surrounded by aliens who won't help, having landed on a barren alien planet and since you save when you land on a planet, I'm totally screwed. That said, I'm having a lot of fun with my current game, piloting a small and manueverable craft around the edge of the galaxy, just finding whatever might be out there.

You guys should check it out, mainly because it's shareware and if you don't like it, no loss:

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/

ReroRero · Posts: 2148

I drew what I played today.

Brock · Posts: 421

I used to play the hell out of the Tony Hawk games, and...yeah, I think 2 probably is sort of the pinnacle.

Though I will agree that 3 had some great music and levels, though I'm kind of partial to the music in the first. 4 and the Underground games didn't do a whole lot for me. I mean, I just don't see the appeal of racing around as Jesse James on a rocket-powered Segway. On paper it sounds pretty cool (I mean, Segway), but the execution and mere inclusion are kind of baffling and unnecessary.

I haven't played Wasteland, but I take it that it follows the superflous Underground games?

Also, 3 does seem to have the best editor. After 3, it seems like they really restricted the character proportions, killing any chance of making a skateboarding Fat Albert or the like.

glitch · Posts: 216

i played Rez. i've known Rez for years, seen a friend play it, a lot. we'd sit in the dark and he'd throw me the trance vibrator (with which i never did anything indecent, mind), he'd play and i'd stare and it was awesome. now it's super cheap at play-asia and since i bought a jap ps2 a while ago, he decided that i had to have it, and bought it for me as a present.

so last night i put my monitor in yoko-position (god that looks weird), and took Rez for a spin. and it totally nerves me out. i don't know what it is about this game, but whenever something shoots at me i just bounce around in panic and i totally miss out on the pretty scenery. i guess with enemy bullets moving that slow there's way too much time for me to realise that that projectile over there is gonna totally kill me if i don't get it under my cursor in time, and freak out over it. i was completely exhausted after level one and had to take a go at Mushihimesama's maniac mode before i could even sleep.

i think i'll copy his save-file and stick to travelling mode from now on. or have him play it here. or something. but god it's beautiful.